Muskegon and West Michigan have critical roles to play in the future of electrical production in the state of Michigan, and that's not only because of the potential for producing wind energy.

Consumers Energy is planning improvements to extend for at least another decade the life of Muskegon's B.C. Cobb plant, and has even greater plans for the Ludington Pump Storage Plant.

The Muskegon County Wastewater Management System is even being eyed for a new generating plant down the line, said Consumers Energy President and CEO David W. Joos.

And then there is Consumers Energy's move into alternative energy, especially wind power. West Michigan offers the public utility with plenty of options to harness wind energy from both offshore and on the shores of Lake Michigan, the company chief told The Chronicle in a recent wide-ranging interview at the company's relatively new headquarters in downtown Jackson.

Consumer Energy's investment in Muskegon and West Michigan will be influenced to a great extent by the ongoing debate on energy policy now before the state Legislature. The company has waged a public relations program to advocate for more regulation of electricity, which it says is needed to secure its investments in new energy-producing projects.

A significant employer and an even more significant taxpayer for the city of Muskegon and Muskegon County, the nearly 60-year-old B.C. Cobb will be operating at least another decade, Joos said.

"The B.C. Cobb is a very old plant," Joos said. "That unit is going to be needed for the next decade or so. ... How much additional investment we would make in the next decade will depend on whether we think we will need it beyond that decade."

The future of Cobb -- with two coal-burning base-load units and three natural gas "peaking" units used during high electrical use -- and other aging power plants will depend upon Michigan's economy in the coming years and the rate of annual growth in electrical use. Other factors include how successful energy efficiency programs limit the growing need for power and how quickly alternative sources such as wind farms or bio-mass plants are added to the state's power grid.

"These are decisions that we don't have to make today and that's good because it provides us with options," Joos said. "But it may very well make sense for us a decade away to move toward retirement of those (plants)."

While the future of B.C. Cobb is uncertain, the Pump Storage Facility along Lake Michigan just south of Ludington appears to have a bright future. The unique facility allows Consumers and partner Detroit Edison to use cheap and available electricity during the night hours to pump water into a huge basin sitting on a bluff above Lake Michigan. When power is needed during the day -- and is more costly -- the water is released providing electricity when it is in the most demand.

"I think that is a fabulous facility," Joos said of a massive earthen structure completed in 1973. "It is absolutely a facility that provides reliability and better economics for our customers.

"On a go-forward basis, we think there is the opportunity to make some investments in Ludington. We think we can improve efficiency of those (pump) units by as much as 9 percent. It is our current expectation that we will be investing more in those units and that they have a long future for Michigan."

As for meeting Michigan's immediate energy needs and reducing the amount of power the company must purchase from out-of-state sources, Consumers Energy has proposed a $2 billion-plus "clean-coal" power plant adjacent to its Karn/Weadock facility in Bay City. The new plant would contribute $1.2 billion in economic activity in the state over seven years -- nearly half of that in the Bay City area -- and 1,800 construction jobs at its peak.

Muskegon County was quietly in the running for the plant, offering a large publicly-owned site south of Apple Avenue at the county's Wastewater Management System.

"Frankly, the existing site in Bay City is simply a very good site because we already have rail access, lots of space on that site, water availability and transmission capacity is already there," Joos said. "The existing site was more cost effective."

But company officials still have Muskegon under consideration, Joos said.

"That looks to be a site that would make sense some time down the road for a new facility," he said. "There are limits on what you can do on your existing sites, obviously. Some time down the road, (Muskegon) might make a lot of sense for a base-load plant."

In the meantime, Consumers Energy is looking at West Michigan for potential sites for wind farms. The company would first seek cheaper and more accessible onshore sites along the Lake Michigan coast. In the future, Consumers Energy might explore offshore wind potential on Lake Michigan, Joos said, but he added that both would be controversial and generate public opposition.

"We are going to have to get over some of these (objections) as a nation if we are going to deploy renewable sources," the utility chief said. "We will be a player in renewables development here within the state, particularly in the area of wind."